RSS
Home
Wii Fit Review - The Wii Fit makes fitness fun
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
Wii Fit Review - Description
The Wii Fit can be broken down into five distinctive parts: daily body and balance tests, yoga exercises, strength exercises, aerobics and balance games. As you spend time with the different training exercises, you will gain Wii Fit points that will lead to new exercises and balance games.
The balance board is perhaps the
best thing about the Wii Fit.
The daily body and balance tests will keep track of your weight and body mass indicator (BMI). It will also allow you to set a specific goal and track your results on a daily basis.
In the yoga exercises, a personal trainer guides you through the different poses. With your feet on the balance board, Wii Fit shows both your center of balance and where your center of balance should be during the pose. This helps ensure that you are holding the pose correctly.
Like the yoga exercises, the strength exercises come with a personal trainer. The strength exercises include lunges, jackknives, leg twists, and planks among others. And as you rack up Wii Fit points, new challenges are unlocked.
Aerobics includes running, step aerobics, and rhythm boxing among others, but the real workout comes from doing the Hula-Hoop. Among the balance games are the ski slalom, ski jump and tightrope walk. The table tilt balance game is especially fun and challenging.
Wii Fit Review - Pros and Cons
Wii Fit Pros
- A center of balance display during yoga helps ensure you are doing the pose correctly
- Strength exercises can give you a real workout
- The balance games are very entertaining
- The balance board alone may be worth the price
Wii Fit Cons
- There is no way to create a custom workout
- Switching between profiles is cumbersome
Wii Fit Review - What's To Like
Daily motivation is the best thing about the Wii Fit and what makes it well worth the money. Even though it could definitely be better in some areas, seeing your daily progress toward a goal helps motivate you to reach that goal.
The yoga exercises are great for those just learning yoga. The Wii Fit does a good job of teaching you each pose. An expanding and contracting circle also helps keep you on the right course with your breathing. And, for those who already know yoga, the Wii Fit will let you see how well you are holding each pose by showing where your center of gravity is and where it should be.
The strength exercises are also great and can really work out your muscles. When combined with the yoga poses, they create a solid daily workout.
The Hula-Hoop exercise stands out among the different aerobic exercises as both a fun and challenging activity that also provides a good workout. Once you unlock the Super Hula-Hoop, you'll really get a good workout.
Tops among the balance games are the ski slalom, table tilt, and balance bubble. The ski slalom comes in two varieties: regular skis and a snowboard. But you'll have to collect some Wii Fit points to unlock the snowboard slalom. The table tilt is the best workout for your lower legs among the balance games and is the most challenging. The balance bubble is also worth mentioning simply because it is fun.
But the best thing to like about the Wii Fit is the balance board itself. It will be well worth the price alone, especially as new games like We Ski come out that support the balance board.
Wii Fit Review - What's Not To Like
The inability to create a custom schedule of workout exercises tops my list of biggest gripes with the Wii Fit. The brains over at Nintendo really missed the boat with this one, and the lack of a custom workout schedule drags the Wii Fit down from a great exercise program to merely a good one.
The lack of kid-friendliness is also a serious flaw. Early reports on the Wii Fit show that the results given during the daily body test are unfit for kids. Since it doesn't take a child's unique body into consideration, the Wii Fit can end up telling a kid who is perfectly within the acceptable weight range that they are overweight.
Also, the Wii Fit's blunt manner in which it discusses these topics such as hinting that you must fall down a lot after a poor performance during one of the balance tests can be unfit for some children that are sensitive in that area.
The sheer chattiness of the Wii Fit is also something that will end up getting on a lot of nerves. It is irritating signing in with the expectation of quickly running through the ski slalom a few times and the Wii Fit stops you in your tracks with fitness tips.
Another irritating fact for families is the inability to quickly change profiles during the training exercises. This makes taking turns doing the table tilt or having a Hula-Hoop competition much more time-consuming as you wade through different menus to switch the profile.
Wii Fit Review - Final Grade
While the Wii Fit has its bad points, the good definitely outweighs the bad, and the balance board alone will make it a good purchase once more games come out that support it.
For those looking to get in shape and lose some weight, the Wii Fit will provide daily motivation and track your progress toward your goal. And while some of the packaging could use some improvement, the exercises themselves are quite good.
The balance games are also a refreshing addition that can put a little fun into your workout.
Final Grade: B
While there is definitely some room for improvement, there is enough going for it that makes the Wii Fit a good addition to a home fitness program.
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
